Judge Approves Plan in Club Fire Settlement

You may recall that we have written extensively in prior issues about the night club fire that occurred in Rhode Island in 2003. Survivors of the deadly fire and relatives of the 100 people killed are close to sharing a $176 million settlement. A federal magistrate judge has approved a proposal for distributing the money among the more than 300 people who filed suits over the fire. The fire began when pyrotechnics used as a stage prop by the 1980s rock band Great White ignited soundproofing foam. The distribution formula was proposed by Duke University law professor Francis McGovern, who spent a considerable time in Alabama at the University of Alabama. He was hired by the victims’ lawyers to work out a points system for survivors and relatives of victims of the fire.

The formula awards the largest shares to survivors who were most severely injured, but the precise sum each Plaintiff will receive hadn’t been determined when this issue went to the printer. Payments will range from about $20,000 to several million dollars. There were no objections to the distribution plan and the court approved it. The $176 million comes from several dozen Defendants, including Anheuser-Busch, Clear Channel Broadcasting and The Home Depot.

After the fire, which injured more than 200 people, club owners Jeffrey and Michael Derderian pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter charges, and former Great White tour manager Daniel Biechele pleaded guilty to the same charges. Biechele was released from prison last year after serving less than two years in prison. Michael Derderian is due out on parole later this year; his brother was spared jail time.